Memorial Day

Newspaper clipping from the Antelope Valley Ledger Gazette, Thursday May 10, 1945

Sgt. Fred J. Foote was recovering from being wounded in a fire-fight in New Guinea when he got the word that his brother "Bud" had been killed in a Japanese ambush on July 20, 1944. Fred had been shot in the left hand -- a wound not considered bad enough to send him home (but enough to earn him his first Purple Heart) -- and his unit was preparing for the invasion of the Philippines in October. He would miss his fallen brother for the rest of his life, and visited his grave in Hawaii whenever he could over the years.

Airman Edward "Bud" Foote

Edward "Bud" Foote enlisted in Los Angeles in March of 1942...just 7 months before his younger brother. While Fred had later joined the famed 1st Cavalry Division, Bud wanted to be a pilot and joined the Army Air Corps as a Private...he eventually attained the rank of 2nd Lieutenant with the 5307th Composite Unit, more popularly known as MERRILL'S MARAUDERS as a C-47 pilot.

"Merrill's Marauder" Edward "Bud" Foote

Though they were only operational for 6 months, their exploits in Burma under impossible odds and horrible conditions are legendary. Their battles against the enemy's superior forces as well as struggles against constant torrential downpours, hunger and disease (which took more of their lives than the Japanese did) were noted when the unit was awarded a Distinguished Service Citation in recognition of their heroism. Bud Foote (and each soldier in the unit) also received The Bronze Star...though his was posthumous, and was accompanied by a Purple Heart.

Bronze Star and Purple Heart service medals

I'm certain those reading this until now have never heard of Lt. Edward G. Foote, but he gave his life in the service of our country back in July of 1944, and was a hero in the very true sense of the word.

Remember him the next time you watch an episode of Steve Canyon, for his brother, who also was a hero during WWII...

Corporal Frederick J. Foote at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas 1943

(aka Dean Fredericks, star and namesake of STEVE CANYON)

But that's a story we are saving for Steve Canyon Volume 3.

Remembering our Veterans and fallen service men and women on Memorial Day 2011.

John Ellis

Hollywood, CA

Update: Operation Volume 3

John Ellis sitting in front of Apollo capsule last September 25 in Chino at the Planes Of Fame Air Museum. Photo by Jan Paulshus. Click HERE for Jan's snazzy anaglyphic 3D version of this pic! (make sure red lense is on left eye and blue lense is on right eye to view properly).

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In spite of the long overdue delay in posts here, THE COMPLETE STEVE CANYON ON TV Volume 3 is ALIVE AND WELL and still on low horizon approach. There have been problems, mostly annoying, some possibly avoidable, some not...and NONE fatal. As a friend said recently, "slow...but slow PROGRESS". So Volume 3 IS COMING but is regrettably still a few months away. Announcement of the release date is forthcoming.

I recognize that some of you have been waiting a LONG time since you pre-ordered, and that it may seem ludicrous BUT this is an unusual project, totally underfunded...and I want to remind everyone once again that this is not a throw-away product to us, not only is it a labor of love, but also a one-man operation...it just takes time and lots of it.

It's not "paint-by-number" either, every day and every decision is an adventure that effects everything else, and it's very hard to predict a schedule. I absolutely love what I'm doing and I thank each and every one of you that have written with encouraging letters and messages of support, they really perk my days! This is important to me to get it right...not perfect, just...accurate. It means a lot to me to honor Dean Fredericks and all the associated cast, crew and material to the best of my ability and I promise to have it in your hands not a minute later than is possible.

Think about this: Your pre-orders are what are making this possible! I consider that we are all in this together, shipmates on a journey...with the final destination just ahead!

You've Probably Noticed...

We haven't posted for a while due to a few technical glitches here on our website (involving images and media files) which are now gladly a thing of the past. I'm not a complainer and would rather talk about what's going RIGHT with the wrapping up of Steve Canyon Volume 3.

Pending Interviews

We are rescheduling several critical interviews with celebrities and Dean Frederick's family members that we had to postpone recently (due to circumstances REALLY beyond our control, such as extreme weather, distance and health issues): we heard from "The Virginian" James Drury (another Steve Canyon regular cast member) who called to let me know he is recovering from surgery and is looking forward to wrapping up his interview with us soon. We wish him well and look forward to sitting down in person and talking with him about his days on Steve Canyon!

James Drury as Lt. Richard Muller (flanked by Frank Maxwell as Major Barr on left and Dean Fredericks as Col. Steve Canyon on right) checking something sinister in the front wheel-well of an F-100 Super Sabre at oh-dark-hundred in the final filmed episode of Steve Canyon, "SABOTAGE" (directed by Walter Grauman).

More info on wrapping up other pending interviews is coming in the next few posts...so stay tuned!

MORE VOLUME 3 NEWS

We recently uncovered a treasure trove of information about the filming of the series through the kindness of director Walter Grauman, Chris Soldo and USC's Ned Comstock. Mr. Grauman had donated his directing notes and papers to USC and Mr. Soldo put me in touch with Mr. Comstock at USC (as he was aware of some Steve Canyon materials that were included in Walter's donation). Ned went on a hunt within USC's archive that was both above and beyond the call of duty, and which netted us not only Walter's extensive notes for the seven episodes he directed (and dozens of heretofore unseen newspaper clippings related to the show) but also the "daily production reports" for nearly every episode in the series!

This amazing find is extremely significant due to the fact that most of the details of each day of shooting were written down by the assistant director. So many questions that I have had have been answered in these papers and much of this material is going into the "making of" documentary in Volume 3. In fact it's caused me to revamp significant portions of the documentary and I am now finishing with renewed confidence. Our thanks go out to Ned, Chris and Walter for this amazing gift from which we will all benefit.

Clowning around on location at Van Nuys Airport during the filming of OPERATION NOSEWHEEL.

From left, Dean Fredericks, Col. Frank Ball, Abel Fernandez, and Jerry Paris. (also directed by Walter Grauman).

Photographed Wednesday December 3rd, 1958

More news on the horizon (and in separate posts)...I am going to try to post once a week from here on out until Volume 3 is released, so stick around...it's about to get very interesting!

And be sure to check out this related blog post by our pal Dean Mullaney concerning Steve Canyon and IDW Publishing's big CANIFF art book that's coming out this summer!

Again, Volume 3 is coming soon...we're on track and moving forward every day... andI thank everyone for their interest and patience...your support is appreciated!

More next week...roger that!

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Bob Burns On Board

August 28, 2010, Burbank California:

Bob Burns brandishing one of his many original Steve Canyon treasures in his house-cum-museum in beautiful suburban Burbank last Saturday.

Well it finally happened. We've been talking about it since way back in 2006 and last Saturday my associate Tom Swyden and I finally got together with Bob and Kathy Burns and shot an interview with Bob for inclusion within the documentaries I am working on for Volume 3 of THE COMPLETE STEVE CANYON ON TV!

Here's a a little peek featuring Bob as well as a promo for the Volume 3 episode "The Bomb":

"Bob Burns On Steve Canyon"

Bob will also be providing audio commentary on that episode as well which should be a lot of fun! I also shot interview footage that afternoon with famed illustrator and cover artist Stephen Hickman, Stephen's brother musician Lance Hickman, and Visual Effects maven Pat McClung, all big Steve Canyon fans, and we're glad to have them on board for Volume 3.

Now the promo for "The Bomb" has a bit of an interesting story. It was actually finished about ten months ago BUT was a casualty of the fatal hard drive crash that I reported at that time. I can tell you that it was really depressing to lose all the work that went into creating it (and other things).

Well when Bob and I were recording his interview I suddenly got an idea how I might resurrect this promo in spite of having lost all of the original files and media. Working from a text file I had saved to another drive (that listed all of the pieces), I was able to recreate it piece by piece by hand using a different formatted version of the episode that we had on another hard drive. It took a while but I am glad to report I feel much better now that it has been restored for your viewing pleasure.

It's interesting that had this not happened it would have gone out last year without Bob Burns mighty presence to give it that extra touch...so it worked out ultimately to everyone's advantage.

"The Bomb" was directed by Walter Grauman and written by John Hawkins, with star Dean Fredericks and series regulars Jerry Paris and Ted de Corsia PLUS guest stars John Anderson, Virginia Christine and Dabbs Greer.

Three boys, a clubhouse, a little red wagon and a live 250 lb. general purpose bomb! (Left to right) Gregory Irvin, Steve Wooten and Ricky Klein in a scene from "The Bomb", which aired Thursday March 12, 1959 on NBC primetime.

Here's another image from "The Bomb", this time a cool stereo 3D image for all you cats with two different colored lenses in your glasses:

3D anaglyph image from "The Bomb", which aired Thursday March 12, 1959 on NBC primetime. Use red/blue 3D glasses to view (with the red lense over your left eye). 3D process by John Ellis.

While we're at it here's another rare image from our files:

Steve Canyon (Dean Fredericks, left) with Dr. Francis Arnold (Barry Atwater) in a composite studio publicity shot from OPERATION MOBY DICK, which aired November 8, 1958 (available on Volume 1). Photo courtesy the family of Dean Fredericks.

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So to wrap this post up, work is proceeding apace on Volume 3 as I get closer to having all of the interviews and commentaries recorded. I will be trying to post more often to keep everyone apprised of the current status and final release date for Volume 3...it IS approaching...relentlessly...resolutely...and we are just as excited about it as you are.

Stay tuned.

John Ellis

Pacoima, California

P.S. Again, I recommend (if you want to stay "in the loop" and you haven't already) that you 1) Subscribe to this (our official website) using the form you find over on the right hand sidebar, so you can keep up with what is going on. 2) We also have a Steve Canyon page on FaceBook that we post to regularly with updates that are "on the fly" or too minor for this blog (our regular website). Much much up to date info there!

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Volume 3 News Update

In Memoriam

Doris Jane Gossett 1940-2010

My sister Doris Gossett (left), my daughter Sara and myself (John Ellis), Thanksgiving 1985, Alexandria, VA. Photo by Cindy Weinstein.

My sister, Doris Gossett, passed away last month at the age of 69, after succumbing to a long term battle with type 1 Diabetes.

I was stunned: I didn't really expect this as she had survived so many "life threatening" health issues over the years (including a simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplant, deep staph infection and so many other things). Doris was a bona-fide mathematical genius who was "drafted" by the Naval Research Laboratory while in college in the early 60's and worked with them for her entire adult life.

Understand, please, that there most likely WOULDN'T be a restoration of STEVE CANYON if not for her. Doris not only raised me for a few years when I was very young but also sparked and continued to fan into flame my lifelong interests in the arts and sciences. She always encouraged me to do what interested me (as unlikely as it might seem for a farm kid from Ohio to succeed in these varied fields).

When I was 8 years old she took me up in her Piper Clipper and let me take the controls for a few terrifying yet cool moments I will never forget. When I was 9 she gave me a REAL paleontologist's rig (not a toy) for hunting and preserving fossils (which was one of my passions and still is). When I was 10 she gave me a "chemistry set"...not a "Gilbert" kid's set but many boxes of REAL erlenmeyer & florence flasks (and other pro lab gear), but more importantly a mortar and pestle, which I used for years (especially in my career in motion picture special effects).

She bought me many books on art and aircraft and military subjects and also my first plastic model kit (a midget racer). When she saw my finished build of it, she said "John it's very nice, but you aren't supposed to cut the decals apart and glue them on, you put the decal sheet in water and then they will slide right off and onto the model!". She was always so loving and so darned cool and her passing has affected me profoundly. I miss her dearly.

Doris was a big supporter of my illustration/writing/motion picture work and the Steve Canyon Restoration Project. She urged me to boldly initiate the Steve Canyon Project when others that I knew were warning me against doing it. They said that it was too risky and that I would be disappointed and that it just "wouldn't work out"...well Doris was right and the nay-sayers of doom were wrong, and so I just wanted you all to know just who she was, the part she played in this and how she has affected all of us and our love of The Steve Canyon Television Series.

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Having said all of that (which has been very hard to write), I am sorry to report that I am still behind on the finishing of Volume 3. This is a MAMMOTH undertaking any way you look at it and is a tough task for me all by myself and with so little money that I have to work on additional paying jobs to help to fund this (and to keep a roof overhead and the lights on).

At the urging of many of you I plunged ahead with pre-sales and projected completion dates though I was uncomfortable trying to predict when it would be finished. One factor in all of this is trying to get critical materials that have been promised and recorded interviews that have also been promised...some for YEARS. I'm pleased to say that I finally was able to travel out of state and pick up some 200 images of Dean Fredericks' early life and military career, and to complete my interview with his daughter on camera. I only have a few local interviews to shoot then I will have all the pieces to complete Volume 3 as envisioned.

Exciting New Stuff:

On the upside we have uncovered even more phenomenal documents, photos and individuals during this period which continues to enrich the documentaries for Volume 3.

Dean Fredericks during basic training late 1942.

We now have a number of much needed (and never before seen) images of Dean Fredericks from the war years. We have also uncovered many new STEVE CANYON images along with vital information about the filming of the shows.

During the filming of OPERATION DIPLOMAT at Rogers Dry Lake (near Edwards AFB, CA) during the week of September 17, 1958.

Behind the scenes pictures from STEVE CANYON are rare, but we have managed to pull together quite a few unique and interesting images from several episodes...

Dean Fredericks (left) going over the script with Director Don Taylor during the filming of OPERATION DIPLOMAT at Rogers Dry Lake (near Edwards AFB, CA) during the week of September 17, 1958.

We also have managed to find a number of rare behind the scenes images and production stills from some of Dean's other films...

Dean Fredericks (center) with actor Richard Weber and famed WWII fighter ace and Medal of Honor recipient Gregory "Pappy" Boyington (seated) during the filming of THE PHANTOM PLANET (1961). Thanks to Drew Cook for identifying Pappy Boyington!

The most important materials by far...and the things we have been lacking until now, are images from Dean's life prior to becoming an actor in the early 1950's. This has made it hard to work on a documentary about his life, but now (as of this week) due to the kindness of his daughter, we now have many images of his mother and father and his older brother Bud.

Dean Fredericks (right) with his older brother Edward "Bud" Foote when they lived in the suburbs of Los Angeles circa 1932. Bud was a pilot and a member of "Merrill's Marauders", who were like the Rangers and later the Green Beret. Bud was killed in Myitkyina, Burma in July 1944. He received the Bronze Star for bravery and other honors.

We also have images of Dean after the war and between that time and when he began acting. All of this is SO VERY important to the proper telling of the story of Dean Fredericks on Volume 3.

So where do we stand?

I ask you to bear with us and give us a chance to complete Volume 3 the way it NEEDS to be completed. Though I am SERIOUSLY RELUCTANT to promise another finishing date at this point...I really have no choice but to say that I am HOPEFUL to be finished and releasing by the end of summer/beginning of fall of 2010. That's about the end of September/beginning of October. BELIEVE ME, I wish it were sooner but again I am literally going as fast as I can with this without the money, resources and manpower to grease the wheels of progress.

AGAIN, we are NOT a major studio (I work out of my own home), and while I used to be able to work for days on end without sleep, I have discovered that I am physically incapable of doing that any longer at my age. BUT I AM COMMITTED to finishing this project...and those that know me know my tenacity and focus and dedication to each and every project I have ever been involved with. I appreciate your support and patience and good humor, and I can say that The Complete Steve Canyon On TV Volume 3 DVD is coming! and it will be well worth the wait!

John Ellis

Pacoima, California

P.S. Again, I recommend (if you want to stay "in the loop" and you haven't already) that you 1) Subscribe to this (our official website) using the form you find over on the right hand sidebar, so you can keep up with what is going on. 2) We also have a Steve Canyon page on FaceBook that we post to regularly with updates that are "on the fly" or too minor for this blog (our regular website). Much much up to date info there!

P.P.S. Thanks to Tom Swyden, Laura Lozano and Rick Slugoski for their support above and beyond the call of duty of late on this project. Thanks also to the steadfast support of Harry and Yo, without whom Col. Canyon would still be sitting in the dark...

Happy Independence Day!